Watch: London’s five-star Mandarin Hotel goes up in smoke [video]

A huge relief, as no loss of life has been reported.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, a plume of black smoke engulfed the Hyde Park and Kensington regions of London, as the Mandarin Hotel caught fire.

The London Fire Brigade tweeted that “120 firefighters and 20 fire engines” arrived on the scene to tackle the blaze. The origin of the fire has not yet been confirmed.

London Fire Brigade Station Manager Pam Oparaocha is still at the Knightsbridge property. She said:

“The smoke from this large fire was very visible across central London this afternoon and we received a number of emergency calls. Firefighters are working extremely hard to bring the fire under control. Crews wearing breathing apparatus are carrying out a search inside the building.”

“Firefighters are likely to be there throughout the evening and once the fire has been brought under control fire investigators will take over to establish how the blaze started.”

The Mandarin Hotel is an extremely upmarket venue that hosts some of the most powerful and wealthy people in the world. It was recently the subject of a BBC documentary that went behind the scenes of the famous residency.

This fire comes just a week before the one-year anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Upwards of 80 lost their lives as a block of flats in Shepherds Bush went up in flames. The inquiry is still ongoing into the disaster.